Home Automation

"Home automation simplifies your life by shifting mundane and tedious tasks from you to your home. With a ‘smarter’ home, you can focus more of your time and energy on the people and things that matter most to you." - HomeSeer.com

I have begun to automate some of the common lighting functions in my home. Using equipment and technology products from a wide range of companies, I have automated the following:

The lights in the living room, kitchen, master bedroom and office are all controlable by remote control.

I have created a timed weekday morning routine that turns on the house lights in the morning to help Erika get up, and brings them down when it is time for her to leave for work.

Motion detectors in the living room will turn on the living room light when motion is detected between dusk and dawn. (This is very convenient when coming into the house at night. No need to find a light switch.

When I use my Harmony 659 remote to watch a movie on the DVD player, the living room light is dimmed.

Everything is controled by the HomeSeer home automation software as the backbone. Homeseer allows for control of everything via customizable scripts and events, and receives input from motion sensors, RF and IR remote controls, RFID tags, and much more.

Some of my immediate future products include the following:

Setting up controllable light switches for the front, side and back outdoor lights, and the 3-way hallway lights.

Replace the dimmer switch for the dining room chandelier with one capable of working with the home automation software.

As an energy saver, set up the front light to come on before dusk and turn off during the night (rather than staying on all night). It will be coupled with a motion detector to turn the light on at night (it's impossible to find the deadbolt keyhole in the dark). If the light is activated by motion, it will then shut off automatically after a specified time.

Add a digital thermostat that will link into the home automation software.

I have other long-term home automation projects that I want to integrate into the system, but I'll add them when I am ready.